The Gunners have an option to buy back the Mexican this summer for just €4 million, a bargain which Vela himself admitted Arsenal would be 'stupid' not to invoke.

However Spanish newspaper Marca suggest re-signing Vela is a decision which may be purely financial.

They speculate that Arsenal may buy Vela, but decide to loan him back to Real Sociedad, where he has scored 20 goals this season.

If Vela enjoyed similar success, this would allow the attacker to be sold next summer, for an increased offer to the highest bidder.

In theory it makes sense. Vela is available at a bargain price, and to loan him back to Sociedad where he has spent two successful years, is a safe gamble that he continues the form, and they can attract an offer from the likes of Barcelona or Real Madrid for £15-20 million, returning five to six times the money they would pay to invoke his buy-back clause.

Arsenal may of course elect to play Vela at The Emirates himself, although with his preferred position the right forward one occupied by Theo Walcott, he would not necessarily be an automatic starter as he currently is in Spain.

The paper report Sociedad, who are also preparing to lose key player Antoine Griezmann, linked also with Arsenal, 'will fight tooth and nail to keep Vela as long as they can'.

Dan Coombs

Dan Coombs has been writing for HITC Sport full time since 2012 and has helped the website grow it's audience considerably during this period, while managing a team of writers. He has interviewed high profile names including Stuart Pearce and his work has been cited in Javier Hernandez's biography. In addition to football, Dan is a big fan of the NFL and NBA.